NEW YORK: The UN has announced 108 new sexual abuse cases by international peacekeepers in Central African Republic (CAR) with the vast majority of victims being children.

A report by a US-based advocacy group said three girls in CAR told UN staff they were tied up and forced to have sex with a dog by a French military commander in 2014.

UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric has called the allegations “shocking to the core” and promised “exemplary disciplinary action” if they're proven true.

France's UN Ambassador Francois Delattre called the allegations “sickening and odious”.

The accusations, dating from 2013 through last year, were first announced by the group AIDS-Free World on Wednesday.

Dujarric told reporters the UN can't confirm the allegations involving the dog at this point, but investigations continue.

“This issue has been out there in the public for almost a year (but) the allegations keep on coming,” said Al Jazeera's James Bays, reporting from the United Nations in New York.

“People who were sent to protect the civilians are in fact becoming the perpetrators.”